LinkedIn is now the world’s largest business-related social networking site.  It is being used in a myriad of ways by a myriad of professionals to connect with others.

Indeed, although connecting with others outside your immediate network is useful, it has been shown that connecting/touching base with others within your own immediate network regularly is actually a better way to build meaningful relationships.  People who you know well are more likely to help you when you indicate you are looking for help.

No duh, but many if not most HR Professionals have recruitment responsibilities at their organizations.  Even though this is true, I am shocked by how few of my connections actually share their open positions using the LinkedIn Update feature, the one thing I do use in LinkedIn every day.

If I am a helping person by nature, and I am, if I see a role that would be of interest to one of my friends and/or LinkedIn connections, you’d better believe I’m going to help you spread the message by sharing your Update with others.  That is my gift to you, and possibly, to a successful candidate for the role.  Doing so costs me no more than 15 seconds of my time.  And, I’m not alone.

Even though my connections tend to be in HR, there is an important fact about social networking that many forget.  HR Professionals may have:

• spouses
• co-workers and former co-workers
• neighbours
• fellow board members or volunteers
• connections in the industry
• dinner party contacts, or
• they just had to downsize some good people, and could refer someone.

Your connections cannot help you if they don’t know about the opportunity.

Nuff said.